Hola todos!
Hermana Thorne here sitting in a beautifully air conditioned library, writing my loved ones. How are all of you?! Oh man I pray you are all doing fantastic. Hermana Sant and I are just starting off our week without a car and the temperature is supposed to go up significantly this week. I have never been so sweaty in my whole life(I am not even being dramatic about this...well not REALLY dramatic :D). Have any of you experienced humidity? I had not before, it's like breathing hot tub water. AND I still love it. It's hard to walk all day in the heat, don't get me wrong, but on the weeks that we don't have a car we tend to find more people to teach because we are always walking by someone or riding next to them on the bus. I also have decided to start using a handkerchief to wipe away the sweat(yes mom, you read correctly, I am sorry for all of the times I teased you for doing this...). We laugh as we try to talk about the heat in Spanish and I try to sing the hymns in Spanish on our walk to and from the bus. I will never forget this time.
So last week I told you all that Kathy was getting baptized....AND SHE DID! It was such a wonderful time! I had worked with her so long and I just love her with all of my heart. She was really excited and totally ready to make this promise with the Lord. I was able to give her a picture of us standing in front of the temple and I know that as she works hard she will be able to go to the temple in a year and do the work for her mom and dad like she wants to. Honestly as I watched her go under the water and come back up(on the time that she finally went all the way under, she is a pretty big woman and the elder that was baptizing her was at least half her size ha ha, so it took four tries...) I was happier than I have ever been in my entire life and I KNOW with all that I am that the Lord wanted me to be there with Kathy, that he puts missionaries in specific places at specific times, and that I am really in the right place. I was able to sing "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" with some of the other sisters and it was such a privilege. It was beautiful.
Some other good news!!! We have an investigator named Bryan who I think I told you all a little about. He did miss church last week because the ride that we found him could not find the chapel, but he went for the first time yesterday!!! He is getting baptized on July 1! I have never met anyone like Bryan. He says that he thinks he has been ready to join this church for years and he is so glad that the sisters came and found him. He loves the Book of Mormon and remembers everything that we teach him and really all that we say.
Also we are planning a ward activity for Pioneers day in July. Just Hermana Sant and I...do you guys have any ideas about activities. We want to do pioneer activities and to have dinner, we were thinking about having an outdoor movie of 17 Miracles when it gets dark...please let me know if you have any ideas. :D
So in my studies I have been reading Jesus the Christ a ton. I absolutely LOVE this book. I know and understand my Savior and His ministry better than I ever have in my entire life. It is so beautiful and some days my personal study really does not feel like enough time. to get the reading in that I want to get in. Also D & C is AMAZING. The scriptures are just golden(well not literally, I mean they were...well the Book of Mormon...ha ha ha ha ha-missionary joke, you would not believe the kinds of things that are funny in the field, but that one is funny for anyone so it's okay if you laughed).
The people in this ward are just wonderful. I LOVE especially the Hispanic women. They just are so loving and they would give you the shirt off of their back, sometimes we have to tell them to please stop giving us so much because their family needs it. They LOVE when we come to eat with them, but sometimes it's a little tough because the way that they show us that they love us is by giving us food...a LOT of food. Also they don't eat with us, they just like to watch us eat, and they like to make sure that we eat a lot. The food that they feed us is FANTASTIC but sometimes I already feel tired and I know that we have to walk a ton afterwards, but then I see their cute little faces asking me "usted quiere mas Hermana" and then I just eat more, and they smile. It is worth it. These women are angels walking here on earth. They love the Lord very much and they work VERY hard to give their family what it needs.
Okay so a quick side note, I called the woman that we are eating dinner with tonight to ask her what time she would like us to come over. Well she did not answer so I left her a message. The thing is that instead of asking her what time she would like to feed us I asked "Hermana a que hora usted quiere a comer nosotras?" = Sister what time would you like to eat us. Yes. My companion thought that this was hilarious and in the middle of me trying to leave the message she is trying to hide her laugh. I am just so glad that the sister who we were calling understands because she is learning English. She just called us back and acted as if nothing had happened. Very nice of her.
OH! And we are going to start teaching English classes! Hopefully within the next few weeks. We really think that this will help us to get more investigators and to make a difference in the community. So many of our members are already really excited. They want to learn english very badly. I am REALLY excited about this!
I want you all to know that I know that no matter what circumstance you are currently in, NOTHING is more powerful than the love that the Lord has for you. If the Lord can help me to learn this language( I will forever be learning Spanish I think) then He can help you do the hard things that you encounter in life. You not only can do hard things through Christ who strengthens you, but you will be stronger as well.
I love you all very much!!!
con amor,
Hermana Thorne
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